Barnyard: The Original Party Animals (2006) Synopsis:
From Steve Oedekerk and Nickelodeon Movies, two of the co-creators of "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius," and filmed entirely in CGI, comes this hilarious look at what really happens in a barnyard when the farmer's back is turned. "Barnyard" is a lighthearted tale centering around Otis (voiced by Kevin James), a carefree party cow, who enjoys singing, dancing and playing tricks on humans. Unlike his father Ben (voiced by Sam Elliott), the respected patriarch of the farm, and Miles, the wise old mule (voiced by Danny Glover), Otis is unconcerned about keeping the animals' humanlike talents a secret. But when suddenly put in the position of responsibility, the "udderly" irresponsible cow finds the courage to be a leader.
Barnyard: The Original Party Animals (2006) Movie Review:
Otis (James) loves life on the Barnyard farm. He and his friends enjoy parties every night, walk on their hind legs and love everything that the human’s do. Live as a cow is great but his father Ben (Elliot) thinks it is about time he grew up and took responsibility for the animals on the farm because it is coyote season. But while the farmer is away, Otis will continue to play but the coyotes are coming.
Another computer-animated film hits the silver screen and surprise, surprise it is another movie with talking animals.
The creator of ‘Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius’ Steve Oedekerk brings us another animated adventure but he really does need to return to school because he knows nothing about differences between a cow and a bull. As every school pupil knows, female cattle are called cows and have udders but male cows definitely do not. Udders are for milking and only female cows do that, so why have the Barnyard’s male cows got udders?
While the filmmakers might be having trouble with their biology this isn’t the biggest problem with movie. It is the plot that is the main problem. An amalgamation of many an animated movie that has come before like ‘The Lion King’, ‘Over the Hedge’ and every other talking animal movie that has graced the scene of late. The complete lack of originality means even the youngest of viewers will struggle to get much from this new animated outing. The humour is lacking as well, not appealing to any specific to any age group meaning that everyone will struggle to get something out the movie.
The story isn’t the only however. The animation isn’t the greatest either. As CG animation gets better and more realistic with every movie, for some reason a film with a decent production budget hasn’t really pushed the boat out when it comes to character design. As well as the udders on the bulls, the rest of the characters are very stereotypical and quite generic with only the coyotes looking suitably menacing.
The film’s only saving grace are the vocal performances from the cast. Kevin James, Courteney Cox, Sam Elliott, Danny Glover, Wanda Sykes, Andie MacDowell and David Koechner all provide vocal performances and are not just caricatures of their celebrity selves. Kevin James is good as Otis and David Koechner is a great villain as Dag, the leader of the coyotes.
‘Barnyard’ is far too simple and basic to make a real impact in this highly competitive market. With poor animation, a lacklustre story that will struggle to appeal to any generation and the fact that the male cattle have udders, this is a movie just completely average and one that will disappear from your memory as soon as the cockerel crows.
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Barnyard: The Original Party Animals (2006) review written by: Jamie Kelwick
13th October, 2008 
